Seven

Chapter 3- The Games of Truth

After the television turned off, everyone looked around, wondering if they heard correctly.

"I'm sorry, did the shadow man just say we're going to die tomorrow?" Jackson asked, smirking like the whole thing was nothing more than a joke.

But Mario failed to see any humor in it. If he had to guess, their connection wasn't obvious because none of them really knew each other. Maybe they were all criminals. Maybe they all had something to hide. Maybe they were all terrible people and these games were punishment. Maybe none of them would make it out of here alive.

But that seemed preposterous. Surely no one could get away with luring seven people, two of which seemed well known, into a mansion and killing them all, could they?

"It's a verse from the Bible," the lady next to Mario said. He remembered her name to be Kelly, but not much else. She seemed to stand out the least among the group. "It means have fun, because life is short."

"I was worried this would turn into the Hunger Games," Brandi chuckled, cutting into her steak. "You know, like we'd all have to fight each other to the death."

Mario looked down at his food and sighed. He was excited about such a delicious looking meal, but he wanted answers. He was growing more and more frustrated with every second he didn't have them. Everyone else seemed just fine eating and drinking, enjoying their time. How could they not be worried about the games, Mario wondered. Some of them were most likely already rich and probably didn't need an extra million. So why were they even here, if not for the money?

Mario looked across the table at Carmen, the young girl who seemed to be the quietest and most reserved of all the players. She looked harmless, but Mario knew better than to believe she wasn't a threat. She was probably smart, calculating. She was probably waiting to figure everyone else out before she made her move, just like Mario.

Carmen didn't touch her meat, but instead, only ate her salad. Mario also noticed that she didn't drink her wine. Was she even old enough to drink?

"Why don't we go around the table and tell a little about ourselves. Maybe it'll help us figure out why we're here," Brandi suggested.

"Good idea," Damon agreed. "I'll go first, since I'm player one."

Brandi giggled as if that was in any way funny, but Damon loved being the center of attention. It was quite obvious and Mario had only just met him a couple of hours ago.

"For those of you who don't know, I'm Damon DeCosto. The Damon DeCosto."

Brandi cheered, clapping her hands together and even some of the others joined in. Mario only rolled his eyes and continued to eat.

"Thank you, thank you," Damon chuckled, as if he was accepting an award. "I'm twenty-eight years old, I'm an actor, I live in Hollywood. I got an invitation in the mail earlier today and here I am."

"You are seriously one of my favorite actors ever," Brandi said with a flirty smile, sipping her wine.

"Oh yeah? So tell us about you, Ms. Benson. What makes you so special?" Damon smirked.

"Well, my name is Brandi Benson. I'm the CEO of Foxy Lady Limited, which is a website for naughty lingerie," she laughed, making both Damon and Jackson laugh along with her. No one else seemed to care much for Brandi though. "I'm twenty-nine, from Denver and I got the same invitation this morning."

"I'm Jackson Lee, I'm a social media influencer from Chicago. I was born in China, but moved to the states when I was a kid. I'm twenty-five, just graduated form college. I also received an invitation this morning," the Asian guy, who was player three, said.

Everyone looked to Carmen next, though she was paying no attention. When she finally looked up and saw that everyone's eyes were on her, she blushed furiously. She cleared her throat and began to nervously fidget with the hem of her vest. "I'm Carmen Santos. I'm twenty. I'm from Baltimore."

"And I'm guessing you also received the invitation this morning?" Jackson asked her.

She nodded in response, hanging her head.

Everyone's eyes turned to the woman next to Mario at the table. She smiled and gave a nervous wave. "I'm Kelly Turner. I'm forty-five and I'm a mom of three. I live in Palm Beach, California, where I teach yoga. I got the same invitation as everyone else this morning."

When it was Mario's turn, he looked up from his food with a scowl on his face. He didn't want to talk to these people at all, let alone, tell them about himself. But for the sake of the games, he decided to comply. "I'm Mario Banks. I'm thirty years old and I'm from Atlanta. I got an invitation this morning and some strange looking dude pulled up at my house talking about I have no choice but to come here."

"Yeah, same here," the guy on the other side of Mario added. "I'm Nine Harper, by the way. I'm twenty-six, from New York, unemployed, got the same invitation. I threw it away, thinking it was some kind of poor sucker's scam. But then some guy in an old suit showed up at my house. I think he must've drugged me. I don't remember anything from the time I left my house until I got here."

Mario didn't mention anything out loud, but he felt he had been drugged as well. That was the only reason he could explain how he got from Atlanta to Maine so quickly. He didn't remember anything about the drive other than the very beginning and the very end.

"I don't remember how I got here either," Kelly, the mom of three, added.

"Now that you've mentioned it, my journey is also a little fuzzy. I just thought I slept most of the way," Jackson said.

"Okay, other than the fact that we all received an invitation today and don't remember exactly how we got here, is there anything else the seven of us could have in common?" Brandi asked.

"We're not from the same places, not the same age, we seem rather diverse," Damon shrugged.

"We're obviously not from the same social class. I could never afford that kind of bag," Kelly said, pointing to the designer handbag hanging from Brandi's chair.

"Whatever we have in common is not obvious," Carmen finally spoke up with an annoyed tone.

Mario had been intrigued by Carmen since the moment he laid eyes on her, but he still couldn't figure out why. She wasn't unattractive, but definitely not someone Mario would be interested in. She was plain, barely spoke a word and didn't seem the least bit excited about being here. Maybe it's that out of the others, Mario felt he related to her the most. She wasn't here to make friends or to socialize. She was here to win the money. Mario respected that. Maybe that's why she seemed to so easily draw his attention to her.

"What about you? Do you have a girlfriend?" Damon asked Mario, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Mario simply shook his head in response. He had girlfriends in the past, before he went to prison. But since he got out, he no longer concerned himself with love.

"So everyone here is single. Maybe that's what we have in common," Damon shrugged.

"This hardly seems like a singles vacation," Jackson laughed.

After dinner, everyone made their way back to the foyer to await further instructions. Most of them had many questions about the games and what to expect. Mario wondered if this Dr. Vincent would ever really show himself or continue to hide in the shadows. Did they all know him? Is that what they all had in common?

While the rest of the group talked and laughed together, Mario sat on the bottom step of the staircase. He didn't have time to socialize. For all he knew, he would be asked to take these people out in order to win the money. No point in making friends if that's the case. And even if they were supposed to somehow worked together, he was sure he'd be better off on his own. Especially since no one here, other than Carmen, seemed to be as skeptical about all this as he was. 

Exhausted by the events of the day, Mario buried his face in his hands and tried to clear his mind of everything else.

"Something tells me everyone won't be so friendly once we figure out what's going on."

Mario sat up just as Carmen sat next to him on the staircase. He was surprised, but he couldn't deny that he was a bit eager to talk to her. If he had to partner or ally with someone for the games, he knew he would choose her, though he didn't know exactly why yet.

"Why do you say that?" Mario asked.

She shrugged, pushing her glasses up. "This all seems...weird to me. I don't know anything more than anyone else, but I feel like from what I do know...I don't know...I guess I feel a sense of dread for what's coming, while they all seem excited."

"Dread?"

She finally looked at Mario, meeting his eyes for the first time. Her eyes were a beautiful golden brown and her lashes were long and thick. She wasn't wearing any makeup, but she was naturally beautiful. "Look around. The staff? This mysterious Dr. Vincent? The invitations? The fact that we were all possibly drugged? You're not worried that this is all some kind of sick, twisted serial killer nightmare?"

Mario chuckled, something he hadn't done since he arrived here. "I'm ready to expect anything. But I'm not worried. There are some things that are worse than death."

Carmen's eyes suddenly clouded over with a darkness that Mario knew all too well. Guilt. Regret. Sadness. Maybe she had lost someone and that was an insensitive thing for him to say. He wouldn't apologize for it, of course. People needed to know that death isn't the worst thing that can happen to them. Losing someone you love is worse. Mario knew that to be a fact. He had lost his mother before he even had a chance to say goodbye. Sometimes he wished it was him who had died instead of her. She was loved. She had a purpose. Mario knew the world would go on spinning just the same if he were gone.

The televisions in the foyer suddenly turned on to reveal the same silhouette as before. Mario and Carmen stood up and joined the others who were standing in front of the screen.

"I hope you enjoyed your meal and took the opportunity to get to know each other better. I understand there are questions about the games and how they will work. I'm going to take a moment to explain the rules and after, Winston will answer any questions you may have. First off, while only one of you can win the prize money, you're not in competition with each other. Your only enemy here is yourself."

Everyone began looking around at each other in confusion. What was that supposed to mean?

"The first game will take place tonight at midnight. You'll start here in the foyer and once Winston rings the bell, you'll have one hour to retrieve clues throughout the mansion leading you to the game's final destination. You can work alone or as a team, but you must participate. Failure to do so will result in your dismissal."

Dismissal? So all it would take to get out of here is to not participate? It sounded too easy, so Mario assumed there was a catch.

"You may retire to your chambers for the next few hours, but you must be present in the foyer before the clock strikes midnight to continue. The rules of the games will be posted here until then. Good luck to you all."

The silhouette disappeared and was replaced with a black screen with white block letters. Mario moved closer to read it.

"Ludos Veritatis"

1. invenire

2. loqui

3. accipere

4. confifteri

5. stipendium

Bona fortuna.

"What the hell? What language is this?" Jackson asked.

"I have no idea," Brandi answered, looking around at everyone else. "Does anyone know how to read this?"

Everyone shook their heads, confused as to why the rules of the game would be displayed in a language that none of them could understand. Was the point to look it up? And if so, how? Their cell phones had been confiscated once they arrived.

"It's Latin," Carmen said, while everyone was talking among themselves about what it could mean.

Everyone's attention turned to her. "You know Latin?" Jackson asked.

"No, not really. I mean, I don't know what any of this means, I just know the last part is Latin for good luck," she replied.

"Okay, where is this Winston guy? Wasn't he supposed to be answering our questions?" Damon asked looking around.

While everyone else carried on in the foyer, Mario started making his way upstairs. He was exhausted and needed some time to unwind before the first game began. He had lots of questions about what to expect, but he figured he'd work it all out later.

After he made it to his room, he sat on the bed and looked around. He spotted a dictionary sitting on the table next to the window so he went over to check it out, hoping maybe it was useful for translating Latin.

Sure enough, it was exactly that; a Latin dictionary.

Mario flipped through the pages, searching for the words he saw displayed on the screen. He was having a hard time remembering them all, but he was certain the first words were something like Ludos.

Mario looked up the word and was disappointed to find out the meaning was games. That wouldn't help him at all. He would have to go back downstairs and look these words up.

He stood up and walked over to the door, but just as he put his hand on the doorknob, a small sheet of paper slid underneath the door at his feet. He picked it up and furrowed his brows as he read the words printed neatly on the paper.

Games of Truth

1. Find

2. Speak

3. Accept

4. Acknowledge

5. Pay

Good luck.